BU BU JING XIN
EPISODE 35
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YONGZHENG READS RUOXI'S FINAL LETTER: NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET:
REGRETS OF AN EMPEROR
      
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RUOXI’S ASHES SCATTERED TO THE WIND BY YONGZHENG
When Yongzheng realises that she has truly passed away, he
demands, ‘Bring me to see her!’
Ruoxi’s body is cremated by Yinti, as requested by her.
  
Upon his arrival at Yinti’s manor, he is shocked that there is
no coffin. ‘Where’s the coffin?’
 
‘Ruoxi is in this box,’ Yinti responds.
It is taboo for the Qing imperial family, who has been
influenced by the Han Chinese, to burn the dead body to ashes. Yongzheng’s
stomach must have twisted into a tight knot.
‘Having planted so many of your spies in my residence, how is
it possible that you have no news of Ruoxi’s death? Yinti asks sarcastically.
Yongzheng scowls at Yinti reproachfully.
‘Ruoxi begged me to find a place to throw her ashes,’ Yinti
explains.
Yongzheng tries to wrest the box containing Ruoxi’s ashes from
his arms. Yinti voices a violent protest. Yinxiang puts a restraining hand on
Yinti’s arm and coaxes him to let go.
Qiaohui gently persuades Yinti to allow the Yongzheng Emperor to
take her ashes away as Ruoxi had instructed that the emperor should be the one to scatter her ashes.
Yinti’s anger which has been blazing, slowly fizzles out but
his face is ravaged with hurt, bitterness and sorrow.
The maid shows the Yongzheng Emperor Ruoxi’s calligraphic work which
is stored in the big chest.
‘Ruoxi thought that you hated her
so she left with no parting words,’ the maid clarifies.
He goes through the things that she had left for him. Most of
them were his gifts to her including the magnolia hairpin and the snuff
bottle. The spear that hit him when he tried to save her was kept by her as a
reminder of his love. His shoulders slump in sorrow and exhaustion and he has
to take some time to regain his emotional bearing. He then leaves with the box containing Ruoxi's ashes.
  
  
Qiaohui gives Yutan’s blood-written cloth letter to Yinxiang and
conveys the message that he has to personally hand it to Yintang. There are further instructions
for Yinxiang to carry out.
 
Qiaohui volunteers to work for Yinxiang, an offer he readily
accepts as he needs someone to take care of Cheng Huan.
Back at the palace, Yongzheng falls into a depression as he has not been able to see Ruoxi for the last time.
 
Yinsi appears and they have a face-off. Yinsi knows that he is at Yongzhen’s
mercy but he would not back down. Yongzheng could not bring him to heel.
‘You are in the same boat as me. What I had
in the past is gone. I’m a failure but so are you!’ Yinsi’s lips curve into a smirk.
‘I’m the emperor of the Qing
Dynasty’, Yongzheng snarls in an effort to sound imperious and matter-of-fact.
‘And, I’m still me,’ responds Yinsi mockingly, meaning he is
still Yongzheng’s opponent, a thorn in his side.
Yongzheng’s expression is black and deadly.
Justice is swift and unbending. Angered by Yinsi’s arrogance,
Yongzheng, with his facial expression twisted by malice and unmistakable
cruelty, orders that he and Yintang
be thrown into prison to rot.
Later, the Yongzheng Emperor decides on an auspicious spot in
the mountains to scatter Ruoxi’s ashes to the wind.
 
The emperor and Yinxiang are reminded of what Ruoxi had said about
herself. 'I'm Chang Hsiao and I am from a different era, the future.'
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THE FINAL CURTAIN: THE DEATHS OF THE PRINCES: YINSI, YINTANG, YINXIANG AND THE YONGZHENG EMPEROR
Life in the Qing prison is like a living death. It is
spiritually distressing and emotionally traumatic. Princes, who are used to a
luxurious and comfortable lifestyle, would be reduced to mere beasts in there. It is a fate
worse than death.
Acting on Ruoxi’s instructions, Yinxiang brings poison for
Yinsi and Yintang to end their horrible existence in the prison.
  
The cloth letter of Yutan, which was written in blood, is
given to Yintang, to remind him of Yutan’s sacrifice and to prick his conscience. Yutan has stated in her
letter that she does not hate Yintang.
‘You are fit to be Yongzheng’s
woman. You’re more cruel than him. You won’t even give me any respite and won’t
even let me die in peace,’
Yintang whispers to Ruoxi’s spirit.
When Yinsi is given the poison, Yinxiang reassures him that
his son Hong Wang would not be ill-treated as long as he is alive. Yinsi thanks him profusely. Viewers are probably touched by the kindness and forgiveness shown by Yinxiang towards Yinsi.
 
Years later, Yinxiang, himself passes
away. Qioahui continues to serve Cheng
Huan.
Mingyi is pregnant and Yin’e is
with her. They turn out to be a happy couple.
The Yongzheng Emperor finally realises that it is truly lonely at the top with his brothers dead and gone.
 One day, he, too, passes away.  |
ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE: MEETING YINZHEN, THE FOURTH PRINCE, AGAIN IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Chang Hsiao wakes up in the hospital. She has been in a coma for several weeks.
She seems to have clear memories of her previous life in the Forbidden City.
Being curious about her past life, she carries out extensive research on the history of the Qing Dynasty on
the Internet.
Chang Hsiao learns that a special exhibition on the Qing Dynasty is being held at the National Museum.
She immerses herself in the history displays. If she had really lived in the Kangxi-Yongzheng eras, is there any evidence to prove it?  
A special painting of the Qing princes catches her attention. She
is shocked that she is able to identify herself in the picture.
She is also confused to see a man who looks like Yinzhen, the Fourth Prince in the museum. Given
his identical looks, she is taken by surprise and she stares mesmerised at his doppleganger.
 
However, he does not recognise her at all. He has no inkling of who she is. Even though they have been separated by a
chunk of time, Chang Hsiao can still remember him very clearly.
But, why the difference? There is a huge possibility that they had not gone through the same time-travel process to journey from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first century.
Although she had died in the Qing era, she had probably evaded the reincarnation process. Chang Hsiao has probably been teleported in the same way from the twenty-first century to the eighteenth century, and from the eighteenth century back to the twenty-first century. Therefore, her memory is still intact and remains sharp. Yongzheng could have taken a different path to the twenty-first century. After his death, he must have gone through the reincarnation process. Perhaps, he must have drunk one too many the ‘Soup of Forgetfulness and Amnesia’ served by the reincarnation goddess, Meng Po. With his memory loss, he has lost all traces of memories of his past life, including the brutal acts that he had perpetrated throughout his Qing reign.
Chang Hsiao's obvious lingering gaze at him has not gone unnoticed by him.
Noting that she has been staring at him unblinkingly, he queries, ‘Do I know you?’
At first, it seems like a cheesy pick-up line, but it is revealed later that he has no interest in her. Chang Hsiao, with tears in her eyes, is too shocked to respond. 
Ruoxi had, at death, wanted to forget everybody and everything that
had happened in the Forbidden City but could not! She clearly remembers her past life.
On the other hand, the Yongzheng Emperor had previously declared in all seriousness to Ruoxi that
he would search for her everywhere if she ever left the Forbidden City, but it is truly sad that he does not even recognise
her when they meet face to face! What irony!
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